Cushioning device.



A. F. ROCKWELL & c. F. SCHMELZ.

GUSHIONING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.23,1906.

1,036,340, Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

WITNESSES: I Q INVENTORS QZQ FFOCkZI/EZZ .iuj cfimeiz Arrow BK WELL andCHARLES F. SoHMELz, citizens of.

m saa'r ea ours ALBERT F. ROCKW'ELL AND -CHARLES F. SCIl-IIVIIELZ,- 0FBRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, AS- SIGNORS TO THE NEW DEPARTURE MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF BRISTOL, CON- NECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT}CUSHIONING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 20, 1912.

Application filed February 23, 1906. Serial No. 302,652.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that we, ALBERT F. RooK- the United States, residingat-Bristol, county of Hartford, State of Connecticut, have inventedcertain new and useful Cushioning Devices, of which the following is afull, clear and exact description, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use" the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to a cushioning device which may be utilized innumerous ways, but it is particularly designed for use in connectionwith motor vehicles, wherein the body of the vehicle is cushioned upon abase or running-gear.-

ln patent granted to Albert F. Rockwell, on or about December 7 1909,No. 942219, means is shown for cushioning the body with respect to itsbase or support, and the present invention might be substituted for thecushioning device cooperating withthe rockable elements illustrated inthe said patent. However we do not limit ourselves to the association ofthe present invention with the specific mechanism shown in the saidpatent, because various means may be utilized for connecting theinvention forming the subject matter of this application with the partto be cushioned without afiecting the operation of the devicehereinshown.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a cushioning devicewherein its 00- the novel details of construction of this in-- ventionwill be specifically set forth hereinafter, it being understood thatchanges in form, proportion and minor details of construction may beresorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of this inventionor sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

The figure in the drawing illustrates a longitudinal, sectional viewthrough a device constructed in accordance with our invention.

The invention is herein illustrated as comprising two co-acting parts,one being shown as movable within the other, and either or both of whichmay be provided with means for governing the cushioning effect or theamount of pressure exerted between said two parts to compensate for theload carried by the part to be cushioned as Well as to provide :meansfor absorbing shocks when the cushioning elements are recovering.

A simple form of accomplishing the desired result is illustrated in thedrawings as comprising a cylinder 1, in one cylinderh'ead 2 of which isa port 3, through which a suitable fluid may be introduced from thevalvebeing normally seated by a spring 6,

one end of which bears against the cylinderhead 2 and the other endagainst a collar 7 on the end of the stem. A guide stem 8 is provided onthe valve 4, distant from the stem 5, said guide stem 8 being slidablein a recess 9 in a cap piece 10, closmg the recess in the port 3 inwhich the valve operates.

The stems 5 and 8 are in alinement, so as to cause a proper unseatmg ofthe valve when it is necessary to admit'pressure into the cylinder, andthe valve t may be normally retained upon its seat by the spring 6. Thespring 6 may be located as shown or it may be interposed between the cappiece 10 andthe valve, in which'latter event the collar '2 may beeliminated. In the present instance the cylinder-headQ serves for one ofthe oppositely movable co-acting elements, while the other co-actingelement is herein shown as a piston 11 longitudinally movaable withinthe cylinder and preferably provided with alternate layers of metallicand leather packing designated by the numerals l2'and L3 to preventleakage. The piston is provided with a stem 1 1 which projects throughthe bushing 15 carried by the cylinder-head 16.0f the cylinder 1.Carried by/the piston 11 is a spring seated valve 17 having a stem 18which projects beyond one face of the piston, the projecting porprovidedin'the head 16, and said port may be provided with a valve 24 toregulate the size of the opening through the port 23. so

as to govern the amount of the exhaust pass- 1ng therethrough during agiven time.

Assuming that all of the parts are properly assembled, andthat the twomovable parts, in the presentinstance the piston and its cylinder, areproperly connected to the parts to be cushioned, the operation-will beas follows; When a sulficient load is placed I on the cushioning device,the piston 11 will have a tendency to travel toward the inlet end of thecylinder, or, indeed, both the cylinder and the piston may move one uponthe other at the same time (provided, of course, that the cylinder isproperly hung for this purpose). It is to be assumed that in thepractical embodiment of the invention a certain quantity of fluid is inthe cushioning chamber C of the cylinder. Un-' der normal. conditionsthe quantity of fluid will be sufiicient to cushion the load, it beingdesirable to maintain approximately the same relative position of thepiston and cylinder as-shown in the drawing. In the event, however, thatan abnormal pressure is applied to the piston or cylinder, or both ofthem, as the case may be, the'parts may be so actuated that the pistonwill assume'a position near the head 2 of the cylinder 1. As the pistonassumes its position near the head 2 of the cylinder 1, it will contactwith the stem 5 of the valve 4. so as to unseat the valve and admit asuiiicient quantity of cushioning fluid to move the piston away from thehead 2, or back to its previous intermediate position, or at least to aposition a suflicient'distance from the head 2 to give the desiredcushioning effect. If a sufficient quantity of fluid is admitted intothe cylinder, it is obvious that the load will be raised to its originalposition, as inthe 'case of a vehicle body. During the time that thepiston 11 is moved toward the head 2, the

valve 21 will be unseated, so as to permit an inrush of air into thechamber D. Now as soon as air is admitted into the, chamber C todrive-the piston back toward the head 16, the air which has rushed intothe chamber D, through the ort 2-2 will be caused to be come compressebut as there is an opening in the port 23, this air will slowly exhaustfrom the chamber D, due to the compression by the piston, and thecushion that has been previously provided by the compressed air in thechamber D will be slowly destroyed. Thus the tendency of the piston to.have a recovery strokeimparted thereto will be resisted by this cushionin the chamber D, so that the shock of the piston on its recovery strokewill be destroyed.

The desirability of maintaining a vehicle body at a predetermined heightabove the base or running-gear is obvious, and .it is the purpose of ourinvention to maintain approximately the same distance between thevehicle body and its base or runninggear at all times irrespective ofthe load carried, and it is for this reason that we desire to introducea greater or lesser quantity of fluid into the cylinder to compensatefor the difference in load under varying conditions. Owing to theexpansibility of any cushioning fluid which might be introduced into thecylinder, the piston would remain in the proper relative position withrespect to the cylinder, only so long'as the load and the raising forceof the cushioning fluid are approximately equal. If,'for example, theload should become lightened or it an excess of fluid should be presentin the cushioning portion G of the cylinder, there would be a tendencyto force the-piston toward the head 16, so as to change therelativeposition of the load and its base, but weaim to overcome such anundesirable condition by providing the safety-valve 17 in the piston. Itis obvious that if the piston moves toward the head 16 until theprojecting portion 19 abuts against the head 16, the valve 17 .willbe'unseated, 'so that part of the pressure from portion C of thecylinder 1 will be permitted to pass through the piston into.

, the portion D of the cylinder with the result that as the pressure in.the portion C of the cylinder is relieved, the piston will 'move backtoward the head itsoriginal position.

Inactual practice we purpose to so connect the parts on the side D, ofthe cylinder, that the fluid which may escape from the side C, of thecylinder, may exhaust to atmosphere, so that there will be no pressurein the portion of the cylinder marked D.

It will be apparent that .by a construction similar to the oneheretofore described, we. have provided means for automaticallyintroducing fluid into the cylinder to compensate for variations in theload with re-- sultant variations in the pressure oflered to the pistonand cylinder by the load, and by so arranging the parts, all liabilityto suddenstrains or jars due to the vibratory action of the body, or tothe variation in the load will be avoided. Attention is directed to thefact that the actions of the valves are entirely automatic, and that thevalves are preferably contained within the 2, to approximately cylinder,thereby protecting them against deterioration and enabling them to beresponsive to the action of the cooperating mechanism at the propertime.

We reserve the right to mount or hang the devices so that oneis movablewhile the other is-stationary, the movable part being either the pistonor the cylinder, or we may arrange the parts so that both the cylinderand the piston move. events, the generic principle is the same and eachform would involve the arrangement of two parts, one of which is movablewith relation to the other, and. one of the parts having automatic meansfor governing the fluid pressure in proportion to the load to becushioned. L

What we claim is:

1. In a deviceof the class described, a cushioning cylinder having avalved inlet port, a piston working inthe cylinder and adapted toactuate the valve to open the inlet port, an inlet valve at the end ofthe cyl-' inder opposite to the supply port, said last mentioned valvebeing adapted to admit air into the cylinder under natural pressure, andan exhaust port for permitting the air to exhaust from said cylinder. 2.A cushioning cylinder, means for introducing fluid into the cylinder, apiston working in said cylinder and havin a valve for letting ofi someof the fluid w thin the cylinder, an inwardly opening valve at theexhaust end of the cylinder, and an exhaust port in said exhaust end ofthe cylinder.

i 3. A cushioning cylinder having an inlet port, a valve in the inletport and-provided with a stem projecting within the cylinder, 9. pistonworking in said cylinder and adapted to contact with the stem to admitsuflicientfiuid within the cylinder to provide the requisite cushion,and means for providing a shock absorbing cushion in the cylinder at theend of the piston opposite to the inlet port. I

a. The combination of a cylinder having a valved inlet openin at one endand an exhaustopening at tie opposite end, the stem of the valve in theinlet opening projecting within the cylinder, a freely mov-- able pistonin the cylinder and normally out of contactwith the said valve stem, anda valve iff the said; piston, said 1sto1 1 belng capable of movement inone lrection for contact with the first named valve stem to unseat saidvalve, so asto' admit pressure,

said piston heing also capable of movement In any of these,

tween said cylinder ends.

cushioning cylinder having a valved inlet port, a freely movable pistonin said cylin der and'provided with an exhaust valve which when unseatedwill permit, pressure to exhaust through the piston, the movement ofsaid piston being effective in controlling the pressure within thecylinder.

6. A cushioning device comprising-a cylinder having a valved supplyport, a piston in said cylinder, and a valved exhaust port in thepiston, said 'piston being capable of movement in one direction to openthe supply port and movable in an opposite direction to permit thesupply port to close, and open theexhaust port.

7. A cushioning device comprising a cylinder having a valved inlet port,a piston in said cylinder having an independent valve for normallyclosing an exhaust port in said piston, a stem on the valve in thepiston adapted to engage a part of the cylinder to unseat said valvewhen the piston is near the limit of its stroke in one direction, saidpiston being effective to unseat the valve in the supply port when thepiston is near the limit of its stroke in the opposite direction.

8. In a cushioning device, the combination with a cylinder, of a freelymovable.

piston in said cylinder and inclosed thereby,

a valved inlet port at one end of the cylinder v to admit pressurebetween one end of the cylinder and piston, an inwardly opening valve atthe other. end of the cylinder t9 ad mit a fluid between one end of thecylinder and the piston, an exhaust port at one end of .the cylinder,and a valve in the piston. normally closed but adapted to be openedduring themovement of the piston in one direction so that communicationmay be established bet-ween the spaces in the cylinder formed by thepiston which is interposed be- In testimony whereof we hereunto afiixour signatures, in the presence 0 two Wlt-- ncsses. r v

ALBERT F. ROCKWELL. CHARLES F. SGHMELZ.

- Witnesses i Josnrrr D. BROWN.

